Terrorists in Gaza fired 12 rockets at Israel overnight yesterday, causing damage to a house in the southern Israeli town of Sderot.
Nine of the rockets were intercepted, and Israel responded with three airstrikes on targets linked to Hamas, the Israeli military confirmed today. Israel holds Hamas, as rulers of the Gaza Strip, responsible for all violence emanating from the territory.
It is the most serious exchange of fire along the Gaza frontier in months. Police said buildings and vehicles in Israel were damaged, and that bomb-disposal units had been dispatched to pick up shrapnel.
The rocket attacks triggered sirens in the city of Ashkelon, north of Gaza, and in the nearby community of Kibbutz Zikim, sending tens of thousands of people to bomb shelters. Two girls were lightly injured while running to bomb shelters, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said.
The rocket attack was the second of the week, and comes amid rising tensions between Israel and terror groups in the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, terrorists in Gaza fired two rockets at southern Israel, both of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.
In recent weeks, groups affiliated with Hamas have launched incendiary balloons into Israel, igniting acres of farmland and causing environmental and property damage in the region.
